Water
The desperate water situation across the diocese manifests itself in different ways:
- Waterborne diseases from contaminated water cause serious illnesses and premature deaths
- During the dry season wells, springs and streams nearly all dry up and water prices escalate several fold
- All water has to be carried from its source and is a burden on women and children in carrying it over long distances when they could be more gainfully employed or at school
The situation Geoff found at his link school in Chebukutumi in 2007 is typical. Even the 100m deep borehole serving the whole community had dried up and the desperately thirsty children were forced to travel several kilometres to collect water from the contaminated Malakisi River where they could not resist drinking it once they arrived. It was this situation and the lack of water at the school for the 4 months of the dry season which inspired Geoff as an engineer to offer some help. This led to the installation of the first water storage tank fed from the school roofs.
Then followed a well at Mapela and a preliminary water survey carried out by the Bungoma diocese. It was at Mapela that Geoff had the good fortune to meet up with Noah Lusaka, who had a diploma in environmental studies and was working for a charity in Nairobi developing the arid lands of East Africa. Noah proposed a pilot scheme of harvested water storage tanks at Mapela and this project was completed and inspected by Geoff and Diannah in 2009.
During their 2009 mission Geoff and Diannah carried out detailed water surveys at the 10 most needy parishes recording all the water sources and whether they were seasonal and protected. In nearly all cases the shallow wells, springs and streams dried up in the dry season and were contaminated. On their return they set in motion a programme to build a 30000 litre harvested water tank at each location and set up this charity to fund them under a partnership arrangement using local labour and materials with assistance and supervision from the Mapela Christian Women Group and funding from the UK charity Wilmslow Wells for Africa.
Our principal objective in water has been that of providing access to clean water across the whole diocese which now comprises 8 archdeaconries. To this end we have carried out detail water surveys to determine the water needs and resources in 57 parishes in the archdeaconries. We have executed 52 clean water projects which include 27 harvested water tanks, 17 spring protection schemes, 7 wells with hand pumps and 1 piped water supply to a clinic.
A video of the construction of the spring protection scheme at Siuna Mukoya in Murembe parish can be viewed here.......Siuna Mukoya
A video of the construction of a hand dug well with handpump at Marakaru parish mother church can be viewed here........Marakaru Borehole
A video of the construction of the 30000 litre harvested water tank at Kimilili parish mother church can be viewed here........Kimilili Tank
The work of the charity in surveying the water needs and resources of Bungoma diocese has now been completed and the most urgent priorities have been met in providing access to clean water to those most needy communities living in extreme poverty.
